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Encyclopedia > Dogsled racing

Dogsled racing is a winter dog sport involving the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that pull a sled, on the runners of which the dog driver or musher stands. The team completing the marked course in the shortest time is adjudged the winner. Dog sports are activities that involve dogs. ... Sled dogs, known also as sleigh dogs, sledge dogs or sleddogs are dogs that are used to pull a wheel-less vehicle on runners (a sled or sleigh) over snow or ice, by means of harnesses and lines. ... Dog sled A dog sled (or dogsled) is a sled pulled by one or more dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. ...


Generally the teams start one after another in equal time intervals, competing against the clock rather than directly against one another. This is due to logistic considerations of getting teams of from 3 to 24 excited sleddogs to the starting line for a clean timed start. Very few races use a mass start, which would generally amount to mass confusion.


Dogsled races may be sprint races over relatively short distances of 4 to 25 miles, mid-distance races from 20 to 200 miles, or long-distance races of 200 to over 1000 miles. Sprint races are frequently two or three-day events with heats run on successive days with the same dogs over the same course. Mid-distance races are either heat races of 20 to 80 miles per day, or continuous races of 100 to 200 miles usually. (These categories are informal and may overlap to a certain extent.)


Other modes of dogsled racing include freight races, in which a specified weight per dog is carried in the sled, and stage races, in which participants run a different course each day, usually from a central staging location. Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris (Linnaeus, 1758) The Dog is a canine carnivorous mammal that has been domesticated for at least 14,000 years and perhaps for as long as 150,000 years based on recent evidence. ...


Races are categorised not only by distance, but by the maximum number of dogs allowed in each team. The most usual categories are three-dog, six-dog, and 12 dogs or more (called open or unlimited); some races have four-dog, eight-dog and/or ten-dog classes instead of three and six.


Racing sleddogs wear individual harnesses to which individual tuglines are snapped, pulling from a loop near the root of the tail. The dogs are hooked in pairs, their tuglines being attached in turn to a central gangline. The lines usually include short necklines snapped to each dog’s collar, just to keep the dogs in proper position. It is unusual ever to see more than 22 dogs hooked at once in a racing team, and that number is usually seen only on the first day of the most highly competitive sprint events. Dogs may be omitted from the teams on subsequent days, but none may be added. Many other rules apply, most of which have been in effect since the beginning of organised dogsled racing in the city of Nome, Alaska, in 1908. A dog harness is similar to harness for horses, and varies depending on the type of use: assistance to a disabled person, hauling a cart or sled, or pulling a human being as in skijoring. ... Nome or Sitnasuaq is a city located in Nome Census Area, Alaska. ...


See also: mushing, carting Mushing is a general term for a sport or transportation method powered by dogs, and includes carting, pulka, scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. ... Dog cart during Mardi Gras in New Orleans Carting is the dog sport or activity of carting, in which a dog (usually a large breed) pulls a cart, often with farmed goods in it, but sometimes pulling people. ...


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  Results from FactBites:
 
Dogsled racing - definition of Dogsled racing in Encyclopedia (443 words)
Dogsled racing is a winter dog sport involving the timed competition of teams of sleddogs that pull a sled, on the runners of which the dog driver or musher stands.
Dogsled races may be sprint races over relatively short distances of 4 to 25 miles, mid-distance races from 20 to 200 miles, or long-distance races of 200 to over 1000 miles.
Racing sleddogs wear individual harnesses to which individual tuglines are snapped, pulling from a loop near the root of the tail.
Racing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (407 words)
Running a distance is the most basic form of racing, but races are often conducted in vehicles, such as boats and cars, on or with animals such as horses and in aircraft.
A race may be run continuously from start to finish or may be made of several segments called heats or stages.
A race and its name are often associated with the place of origin, the means of transport and the distance of the race.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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